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Updated: Dec 11, 2025

Heterogeneity Mapping of Protein Expression in Tumors using Quantitative Immunofluorescence
Published on: October 25, 2011
Metabolic heterogeneity in cancer: An overview and therapeutic implications
Yu Tong1, Wei-Qiang Gao2, Yanfeng Liu1
1State Key Laboratory of Oncogenes and Related Genes, Renji-Med-X Clinical Stem Cell Research Center, Ren Ji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
Abstract:
Recent research on cancer metabolism has revealed that individual tumors have highly heterogeneous metabolic profiles that contribute to the connective metabolic networks within the tumor and its environment. Indeed, tumor-associated cells types, including tumor cells, cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) and immune cells, reprogram their metabolism in many different ways due to diverse genetic backgrounds and complex environmental stimuli. This intratumoral metabolic heterogeneity and the derived metabolic interactions play an instrumental role in cancer progression. Understanding how this heterogeneity occurs may provide promising therapeutic strategies. Here, we review the diverse metabolic profiles of several important cell subpopulations in tumors and their impact on tumor progression and discuss the consequent metabolic interactions as well as the related therapeutic concerns.
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